Replacing old dimmer switch with new light/fan switch

[101mph]

Hey guys,

I'm a rookie when it comes to electrical so bare with me please.

I have an older dimmer type switch connected to a fan that doesn't work and I'd like to replace it with a new simple on/off switch (see pic). The fan and light seems to have power going to it all the time and is currently controlled using a remote device (turn light on/off and fan on/off).

I would like to just be able to turn the power on/off to the fan with this new on/off switch (I can then use the remote if I want to turn the fan on only or light on only etc. etc.).

I tried just replacing the dimmer with a regular on/off switch (I connected the black and red wires to the switch), but this didn't change anything. The power is still always on to the fan and the switch did nothing.

I'm guessing that I need to connect the switch to some of the other black ad white wires inside the box, but I'm not sure which ones.

Thanks for your help.

 

[CoogarXR]

Hard to be 100% sure how the other end is wired.

Maybe the red isn't used. If the fan is being fed by the black wire, it's wirenutted to the incoming black wire, so it will be hot all the time. You are only switching the red. The red may have only gone to the light portion of the fan at one time.

Take the wirenut off the blacks, separate them, and see if the fan is dead. If it is, just put one black wire on each side of the switch, and just cap the red wire.

Obviously, kill the breaker before touching the black wires.

 

[101mph]

OK I did as you suggested and now the switch works (the fan power is controlled by the switch).

Unfortunately, now an outlet across the hall and the light switch in the bathroom (which is on the same wall as that outlet) does not work when the switch I installed is in the OFF position. So it appears that they are on the same circuit somehow. Maybe that's what the RED wire was doing (which is capped now).

Where should I go from here?

 

[sparky 1971]

OK I did as you suggested and now the switch works (the fan power is controlled by the switch).

Unfortunately, now an outlet across the hall and the light switch in the bathroom (which is on the same wall as that outlet) does not work when the switch I installed is in the OFF position. So it appears that they are on the same circuit somehow. Maybe that's what the RED wire was doing (which is capped now).

Where should I go from here?

Put it back the way it was. I'm guessing here, but it's a good guess. Originally, it was just a light, then the fan was added. You have a switch loop and the red wire was switched for the light, the black wires were wire nutted together in the box and weren't needed to control the light. Then, someone added the fan. They then used the black wire, which was always hot, to run the fan which would be controlled by the pull chain. The light on the fan was controlled by the dimmer and could be turned on and off at the wall without affecting the fan Then, a remote was added, but it wouldn't work with the dimmer so it was abandoned. The remote needs nothing more than a hot and neutral, so it was tied in with the blacks, leaving the red to do nothing in the fixture box. You're going to have to take the fan apart far enough to access the wires above it. Get the power for the remote off of the black wires and connect it to the red. You will probably have at least two black wires up there that are part of the house wiring, wire nut them together and shove them to the back of the box, you don't need them, but other things in the house do. If everything remote wise currently works as it should, you shouldn't have to do anything other than get the power wire for the remote over to the red wire.

 

[101mph]

Ok I understand what you're saying. Thing is, the fan & light do not have any pull chain for either. If I remove power for the remote at (above) the fan, how will I control the fan?

Ideally I'd like to use the remote just to control the fan part of the device and use the switch on the wall to control the light (which is what I'll be doing 90% of the time).

 

[sparky 1971]

Ok I understand what you're saying. Thing is, the fan & light do not have any pull chain for either. If I remove power for the remote at (above) the fan, how will I control the fan?

There may have been a fan at one time that did, or maybe this fan was the first one after the light was taken down. Either way, it doesn't matter. The remote is not connected to the red wire since that was the switch leg off the dimmer and the remote wasn't going to work that way.

Ideally I'd like to use the remote just to control the fan part of the device and use the switch on the wall to control the light (which is what I'll be doing 90% of the time).

Since this fan has no pull chains, I doubt you will be able to do that. The remote is probably built in, thus you won't be able to switch the internal wires around to make that happen. If it was an add on, aftermarket remote you could accomplish your goal. As it is, by getting the remote connected to the red wire, you will be able to shut the fan/light off and when you turn the switch back on, it should return to whatever setting it was on when turned off.

 

[101mph]

Ok, if I do that will the remote still work?

 

[sparky 1971]

Ok, if I do that will the remote still work?

Yes. All you will be doing is connecting the remote to the switch instead of it being fed constant hot. Since you don't have pull chains, you probably aren't going to see a remote as it's probably internal. You will probably have a black, white, and green from the fan with the black connected to a couple of black wires and the red not connected to anything. Move the black for the fan to the red and all will be well. If you do discover a remote receiver, it's the same principal, move the power wire from the receiver from the blacks to the red. Just remember, the switch will have to be on for the remote or fan to do anything.

 

[101mph]

Ok. I'm a little confused but I'll give it a try.

Thanks a lot!

 

[sparky 1971]

Ok. I'm a little confused but I'll give it a try.

Thanks a lot!

Don't over think it. The black wires above the fan are hot all the time. The red is controlled by the switch and is only hot when the switch is on. Don't mess with the white or ground wires.

 

[101mph]

Looks like the remote is connected to the black and white house wiring (black to black, white to white).

The fan connects to the remote with the following:
Red->Blue
Black->Yellow
There are also 2 white wires from the fan going to the house white wires

I'm stuck again.....

 

[sparky 1971]

Looks like the remote is connected to the black and white house wiring (black to black, white to white).

The fan connects to the remote with the following:
Red->Blue
Black->Yellow
There are also 2 white wires from the fan going to the house white wires

I'm stuck again.....

Where is the red wire from what you are calling the house wiring? That should be going to the switch. The wire from the remote that's connected to the black of the house wiring needs to get disconnected from the black and connected to the red. That red wire may be shoved so far to the back of the box that was he fan has to come down to access it.

 

[101mph]

Good question. It's not there!

All that is coming into the box in the ceiling is 2 romex cables with white, black and a ground each.

I did not find the Red wire coming from the house anywhere in there.

 

[sparky 1971]

Good question. It's not there!

All that is coming into the box in the ceiling is 2 romex cables with white, black and a ground each.

I did not find the Red wire coming from the house anywhere in there.

There are a few possibilities now. One is that there is a buried box where a light used to be. I hope not. Another is that there is/was a receptacle that was switched. You can pull the outlet plates in that room and look in the boxes for the red wire. If that's the case, there is a chance that switch has nothing to do with the fan and you are stuck with remote control only or having to fish in a switch loop.

 

[101mph]

The outlet box on the same side of wall with the switch has the Red wire in it.

The outlet on the opposite side of the room does not.

Sounding like I'm going to need fish some wires thru the ceiling/walls if I want this to work like I want it to.